Field Trip to Bambootexas Nursery, Hockley, Texas

How bambootexas.com started

Our love for the fastest growing woody plant on earth led us to be very avid bamboo enthusiasts since 1975; collecting, planting, and propagating rare bamboos. We have met many wonderful people all over the world that share our enthusiasm for bamboo and we hope to bring some wonderful bamboo to you as well!

Dr. Darwin Nelson (doctor of Psychology) always had a love for nature and was always interested in bamboo. In 1990, Darwin acquired a few acres of land in George West, TX along the Nueces River. He was very interested in planting many varieties of bamboo to help with erosion control along the river as well as beautifying the landscape. At that time, clumping bamboos were very rare in the nursery trade and not many people could get them. After acquirring several running species, Darwin was able to find some clumping varieties such as Punting Pole Bamboo (Bambusa tuldoides), Bambusa ventricosa (Buddha's Belly Bamboo) and a few others.

The property developed quickly and the bamboos were growing fast. The bamboo grew very well, attracting bamboo enthusiasts from all over to attend several "Spring Fling" festivals. In 2002, the Nueces river flooded and the property was completely submerged underwater for for nearly 6 weeks. Most of the bamboos were under 12ft or more of water. After the water subsided, most of the running species did not survive. However, the clumping species pulled through with flying colors, aside from dropping some leaves. Clumping bamboos had proven to be winners for us, so we had to find more of them. New species introductions from China were just becoming available in Florida and we obtained and introduced them in our area of Texas.

Darwin planted a tropical bamboo garden in Bayside, TX. This garden was much closer to his home in Corpus Christi and he could focus on the clumping bamboos. "Bayside Tropical Bamboo Garden" was born. The garden featured many tropical clumping bamboos.

Meanwhile in Houston, John Nelson, (Darwin's son) was busy propagating clumping bamboo as well and the company, Bamboo Texas, was born. As the small business grew and the suburban backyard became over-run with containers of bamboo the search for land in Houston was on.

In 2005, John and Wendy moved the family to Hockley, TX (Northwest Houston) and built a home on 6 acres. It was here that the Nelsons found a permanent home for the family and for all of the bamboo. We hoped that Bamboo Texas would thrive here as we planted over 100 species of bamboo (many new to TX). Over the years we learned what varieties are best suited for our area and began to focus on those species. We developed the property little by little, starting with a nursery and a display garden, and worked hard to make the farm a beautiful and unique place for visitors to come and learn about the usefulness and beauty of bamboo.

Over the next 18 years John, Wendy, Darwin and the rest of the family worked together to create the beautiful farm and 28,800 square foot nursery that we now have. Today we are able to take customers on tours where they can see full grown specimens of the best varieties of bamboo, hedges of bamboo at a variety of stages, and all of our beautiful nursery plants. We meet with customers daily to educate them about bamboo, help them choose the best bamboo for their yards, deliver bamboo, and have become one of the most well known bamboo farms and nurseries in Texas!

We are always looking to the future to see what else we can do with bamboo, the farm, etc. and hope that this farm is an ever changing, ever growing, beautiful, peaceful, and educational place where people can escape from the city and find what they need to create their very own paradise.

We believe that bamboo is an underplanted feature in the Texas landscape and the more people that learn about it, the more it will turn up everywhere! In addition to specimen planting in the landscape, we believe bamboo provides the best natural privacy screen available in nature. Something very special led you to search for bamboo as a solution, and you have come to the right place! We look forward to meeting with you and showing you around the farm and nursery that is Bamboo Texas!

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